Friday, 20 October 2017

Today at 60

Today, which celebrates 60 years on air towards the end of
this month, is the cornerstone of the Radio 4 schedule. It's one of the
programmes, along with The Archers, Desert Island Discs and the Shipping Forecast that define the
station. Thinking of itself as 'setting the agenda' for the day's news output
it retains a healthily 7.6m weekly listeners in the face of numerous online
news outlets and probably remains the most listened to show by the movers and
shakers in Westminster and the City.

John Humphrys locking horns with the Chancellor of the Exchequer
is a far cry from the programme's origins which didn't sully themselves with
politics but instead offered stories of the 'gosh aren't people interesting'
variety mixed in with reviews of the latest gramophone records and a bit of
sports news (so at least the 1950s equivalent of Gary Richardson had a job).
However, its original premise of broadcasting items "which can be said to
have a topical interest for the average, intelligent reader of morning
newspapers" would hold true today.

The creation of the Today
programme stems from the deliberations of a BBC mid-1950s working party chaired
by one Richard D'Arcy Marriott, the Chief Assistant to the BBC's Director of
Sound Broadcasting. It proposed an alternative to the light orchestral music
heard on the Light Programme with a Morning
Miscellany, it's first working title, on the Home Service. It was to be the
responsibility of the Talks department under the Chief Assistant Janet Quigley
and producer Isa Benzie.

Naturally enough coming up with the programme's title caused
a flurry of internal memos with, unbelievably, Up in the morning early, Background
to shaving and Listen while you dress
all floated before Isa Benzie came up with Today.

Eventually the programme's brief was thrashed out and was
summarised in a memo from H. Rooney Pelletier, Controller Programme Planning
(Sound). The start date was fixed as 28 October 1957 with two daily editions as
7.15 am and 8.15 am (a pattern that persisted until 1970). Items would be
short, no longer than 5 minutes, with material drawn from Talks, News, OB and
the Regions. Likely topics would be: "Notices of new theatrical, opera or
cinema productions. Various OBs under the general heading Going to Work Today. Reviews of gramophone record releases (both
serious and light). Items about dress, fashion, cooking, shopping -and, if
exceptional - weather. Brief personal stories of the Truth to tell kind.
Previews of sporting events: cricket, racing, football. medical notes - usually
suggested by items in the news. Notes on industrial developments - particularly
in the field of consumer goods. Foreign correspondents and material from news
Talks Section of News Division. Possibly a daily quotation. Notes about significant
anniversaries".

This idea doesn't sound a million miles away from a similar
programme idea that was proposed to BBC bosses by one of its Talks producers in
1955. Memos uncovered by Paul Donovan when we wrote his history of Today show that a certain Robin Day had
written about a Morning Review that
would give "intelligent, pithy comment and description of the sort found
on the feature-page of newspapers and in the more serious dairy column".
Day expounded on the idea in two lengthy and detailed memos but Home Service
producers couldn't see the demand for such a programme and it was quietly forgotten.
Day, meanwhile, went off the join the fledging ITN news service.

When Today did
finally make it on air it was presented by staff announcer Alan Skempton (pictured above). No
recording or script of the first edition survives but the Radio Times billing read: "A breakfast-time magazine, bringing
you news, views, and interviews. Including: Briefing a pilot at London Airport,
First Night at Liverpool: Robert Morley. Sale of Napoleon's letters. Out Today:
gramophone records." It was something of a curate's egg according to an
internal review. The interview of the pilot and a passenger by Raymond Baxter
failed to raise little of interest, the talk by Mary Drummond was interesting
but her voice was "soporific and/or irritating", Robert Morley was
the best thing in it, the music was "all right" but the inclusion of
pop "seemed awkward" whilst Eamonn Andrews report on boxing was
good.

The programme did, however, immediately make an impact, if
only because nothing like it had been heard before. Pelletier was keen to
stress "hard information - facts - are probably the most important single
ingredients" and that the presentation should be seen as "clear,
friendly, straightforward". That presentation style changed radically the
following year when Jack de Manio, another staff announcer, joined the
programme. Skempton had been dropped earlier in 1958 following an unfortunate
unscripted comment - though BBC records fail to elaborate what this was - and
Robin Boyle had continued as the main announcer.

It was Jack de Manio, he of the "port-wine voice",
that steered Today throughout the
next decade or so, his somewhat eccentric style endearing him to listeners but
driving producers to distraction. If the few remaining snippets in the Sound
Archives are anything to go by his main difficulty was telling the time, an
issue for a breakfast programme were a reminder that you need to be off the
work or school is a vital component. Apparently he was "a
spendthrift" - there are numerous memos to-ing and fro-ing about his fees
when he became freelance - wore Savile Row suits, drove a vintage Bentley and
"was completely unmanageable for his production team". On one occasion he got stuck in a
Broadcasting House loo and reporter Tim Matthews had to cover for him. He was
known to spread out his script over the desk and read out introductions at
random with the poor producer having to anticipate what was coming next and
adjust the timings accordingly.

During the early 1960s there were the beginnings of a shift
to change the nature of the programme to give it a newsy feel. In 1963
production transferred from Talks to Current Affairs under the guidance of
Stephen Bonarjee. He thought Today
had too many jolly magazine items and with audience figures falling wanted to
add "sharper, harder material". Behind the scenes he introduced a
daily 5.15pm editorial conference to discuss the next day's potential items and
in 1968 changed the staff working patterns to create an overnight team to work
on the programme and brought in equipment for allowing taped reports to be sent
down telephone lines rather than physically brought into Broadcasting House.
Despite this the programme in the mid-60s still had a slightly quirky
reputation as airing, according to John Timpson, "eccentric octogenarians,
prize pumpkins and folk who ate lightbulbs and spiders".

Nigel Rees, first a reporter on Today and later a presenter, recalls some of the freelance
reporters of the late 60s as Tim Matthews, Derek Cooper (later of The Food Programme), Malcolm Billings
(for many years the presenter of The
Merchant Navy Programme on the World Service), Derek Parker, Barry Brown,
David Bellan (later on Radio 2's Star
Sound) and Jeanine McMullen (later on You
and Yours). A programme regular was Monty Modlyn "a rubbery-faced,
little ball of a man and a Cockney 'professional personality'". Monty's
contributions tended to be the antithesis of the hard current affairs stuff
such as going up in a balloon, visiting a nudist colony, finding lost dogs and
bringing lonely hearts together. Modlyn continued to appear on Radio 4 in the
early 70s in his own programmes as well as being a regular guest on Start the Week before joining LBC as one
of their presenters.

One of a number of exercise LPs released by Eileen Fowler.
Eileen had been encouraging housewives to exercise since the mid-50s
of BBC TV's About the Home.

Listeners to Today
in the early 1970s could limber up each morning before heading out for the day
when the Keep Fit feature with Eileen
Fowler was introduced. Eileen had been encouraging the nation to swing into
shape since the 1950s on BBC TV and her 5-minutes or so of exercises were heard
weekly on Today until 1976.

By 1970 the Radio 4 controller Gerard Mansell was seemingly
despairing of Jack de Manio's off the cuff remarks. "I think Jack de
Manio's reference to 'Yoko Hama or whatever her name is' in this morning's
second edition, and his comment to the effect that he didn't care whether or
not she and John Lennon went to bed together went further than we ought to
allow Jack to go." Jack was dropped
from the weekday editions of Today
the following year, sadly missing his final edition due to being in hospital
with gout. As a consolation he was offered an afternoon chat show Jack de Manio Precisely.

The 1970s witnessed a positive revolving door of presenters.
When de Manio left John Timpson became the main presenter. John had originally
deputised on the programme back in 1964 but then went off to BBC2 to co- host Newsroom with Peter Woods before
returning to radio in 1970 to sit alongside Jack on Today. By 1970 the two editions had been united into one whole
-apart that is from all the opt-outs for listeners in Scotland, Wales, Northern
Ireland, East Anglia and the South-West, the junctions for which the presenters
had to hit with pinpoint precision - and the tradition of two presenters, that
still exists today, was established. The editor, Marshall Stewart was finally
able to introduce the harder current affairs edge that had first been mooted
years before; such was his success that he was poached by LBC.

Joining Timpson in 1971 was Robert Robinson and they became
the mainstay of Today for the next three
years. Robinson, according to Marshall Stewart "played a significant and
influential part in accelerating Today's
transformation from a whimsical magazine into a news and current affairs
programme. His sharp intellect introduced an edge to serious interviewing that
politicians, in particular, had not often met on radio before."

Also joining the roster of presenters were Douglas Cameron
(1971-74), Michael Clayton (1973-74), Desmond Lynam (1974-75), Barry Norman
(1974-75), Malcolm Billings (1974-75) and Nigel Rees (1976-78) - for a full
list see the end of this blog post.

Marc cartoon from the Radio Times 18 November 1978

From 8 October 1975 here is John Timpson reporting from the
Conservative Party Conference in Blackpool
and interviewing Geoffrey Howe, Des Lynam is in the studio in London.
Des recalls that during his time on Today
"although politics was very much part of the programme, overall it had a
lighter feel to it. There was still time for the 'record egg-laying hen' type
of story."; witness the New York food smeller (organoleptic analyser) in
this recording. The sports reporter is Gerald Williams and the newsreader Colin
Doran. Audio courtesy of Richard Tucker.

It wasn't until late 1975 that the dream team of Timpson and
Brian Redhead was first heard, the programme was about to enter its first
golden era. Timpson is often referred to as avuncular, "genial,
down-to-earth and very English", chortling at the amusing items that still
peppered the programme and that he dubbed as a 'ho, ho'. Redhead, on the other
hand, coming into the job straight from editing the Manchester Evening News, was seen as (according to a Sunday Times profile in 1987)
"brash, cocky aggressively northern, good-natured, argumentative,
talkative, honest, hard-working, bouncy, hugely enthusiastic and insatiably
curious in how his friends, colleagues and critics see him."

By the 1980s Today
finally developed the hard-hitting reputation for which it is renowned.
"If you want to drop a word in the ear of the nation", said Redhead,
"then this is the programme to do it". Editor Julian Holland was keen
to see the programme written about and noticed. His main aim was "to
ensure a succession of serious and high-profile interviewees." Every
set-piece interview was expected to create a 'news-line', i.e. "something
that would be quoted in forthcoming news bulletins, or the Evening Standard, or the next day's papers".

From the Radio Times 18 November 1978.
Despite just getting the job presenting Today, Libby
had decided to sail off to America later that year.

Though staff announcer Joy Worth had presented the programme
for four weeks back in 1959 it wasn't until 1978 that Today finally woke up to the fact that Women's Lib had actually
happened and introduced the first regular female presenter, Libby Purves, who'd
already been reporting and producing for the programme for a couple of years.

Here is Libby and John Timpson in clips from Today dating from 1979 and 1980.

There were some short-lived structural changes in the
mid-70s. To provide a more balanced less London-centric programme the
presenting was split between London and Manchester for a "new inter-city
style of presentation". It was not particularly well-received but at least
it gave Brian Redhead less of a commute from his home in Macclesfield. Not long
after John Timpson made a temporary return to television so Nigel Rees anchored
the London end with Michael Cooke (Look
North and BBC Radio Sheffield) acting as Redhead's deputy in the
north.

Then there was the debacle of Up to the Hour in 1977. Network Controller Ian McIntryre (aka Mac
the Knife) was keen to clip of the wings of news and current affairs in favour
of more general programming. One of his decisions was the split the programme
in two and fill the 25 minute gap up to the hour with a miscellany of news headlines, sport, weather, paper
reviews and Thought for the Day mixed
with programme previews plus bits of comedy and music all linked by a staff
announcer. Libby Purves remembers how demoralising it was: "We had all
this material coming out of our ears, the whole world to report on, stories to
tell, and we hungered and thirsted for the Today
programme to be a proper Today
programme".

Reacting to the carving up of Today listeners were not happy and expressed their indignation in
letters to the Radio Times. "An
untidy bundle of mediocrities" was one description of Up to the Hour. "A waste of valuable broadcasting time"
wrote another. "Up to the Hour
is the scrappiest and worst-conceived 'news' programme it has ever been my
misfortune to hear. If I wanted to listen to music I would listen to Radio
2." There was some support to the changes with one listener appreciating the
fact "that Brian Redhead and Nigel Rees no longer feel impelled to be
facetious". "I so enjoy the new programme Up to the Hour, especially the few minutes of recorded comedy chat.
The weather forecast, too, is improved. I'll also add that my husband is upset
that you have replaced the pips with Big Ben."

Libby Purves left Today in December 1981 and the role of
third anchor was divvied out for a time between Wendy Jones, Hugh Sykes and
Chris Lowe before Peter Hobday came over from Newnight in 1983, soon joined by a fourth presenter Sue MacGregor
in 1984, initially splitting her time between Today and Woman's Hour.

At this point in the history we should, I suppose, stop for Thought for the Day. This has been the
one constant feature on Today since
April 1970 (prior to that it was billed as Ten
to Eight). Most of the staff "detest" the interruption for
"reflections from a faith perspective on issues and people in the news"
but it attracts "considerable affection" from listeners. One of the
most popular contributors to the 'God slot' was the late Rabbi Lionel Blue.
This is probably his final Thought for
the Day from 20 June 2012.

By 1986 John Timpson was beginning to feel unhappy with the dominance
of political news, he was, apparently, more interested "in explaining
facts than challenging opinions" so in December of that year he bowed out.
This is his final programme, co-presenting with Brian Redhead on 24 December
1986.

Under Thatcher the political landscape of Britain had
changed dramatically and Today had to
change with it. Redhead "relished the opportunities all this provided for
infuriating ministers and pricking their pomposity". But it was the
decision of Jenny Abramksy in 1987 to bring in former foreign correspondent
John Humphrys with his "detached cynicism towards politicians" that
was a game changer.

In January of this year John Humphrys reflected on the
changing nature of political reporting and interviewing in the intervening 30
years.

Jenni Murray was also presenting in 1986 and 1987 and, like
Sue MacGregor, also on Woman's Hour
before it was decided that Sue would stay with Today and Jenni would be the main presenter on Woman's Hour, where she remains to this day of course.

Celebrating 30 years of Today in 1987 with cover stars John Humphrys,
Brian Redhead, Sue MacGregor and Peter Hobday

Again looking to television rather than radio Anna Ford, at
the time also reading the Six O'Clock
News on BBC1, joined the team in
1993. But not that many months later the programme was thrown off kilter by the
news of the death of Brian Redhead. His failing health meant that what was to
be his final programme went out on 7 December 1993. The intention was that he'd
be back on air after an operation but sadly following complications after
surgery he died on 23 January 1994.

The Today programme
of 24 January 1994 was a rather subdued affair with news of Brain's death
leading the news agenda. Presenting that morning was Peter Hobday and Sue
MacGregor with tributes from John Humphries and Margaret Thatcher and heartfelt
words from John Timpson.

With the death of Brian Redhead it was John Humphrys who
became the "voice of Today".
By February 1994 editor Roger Mosey had drafted in, ahead of an already
scheduled move, James Naughtie from The
World at One to begin his 21 year tenure. Later Humphrys would describe
Naughtie as being "absolutely fascinated by the business of politics, by
the House of Commons. For Jim, politics is almost a kind of art form and he
appreciates it almost like an artist".

When Sue MacGregor finally left in 2002 journalist and
occasional Today presenter Mark Coles
wrote about her presenting style: "To many, Sue's style of interviewing is
distinct from that of her fellow male presenters. She admits she often prefers
the conversational to the cut and thrust of a full scale gladiatorial on air
row. For former Labour leader Neil Kinnock it works. 'She's probably the most
graceful of all broadcasters' he says 'very early in the morning to hear
gracefulness coming out of the radio is a blessing....she's like a silken pin,
sharp but decorous. She's not gentle, no-one should call Sue that. She can be
very rough and very insistent - that's her duty, that's her job. But for those
being interviewed even uncomfortably interviewed, the knowledge that someone
has done their homework, the knowledge that they're not playing a game - not
being adversarial just for the sake of it - is a source of comfort even when
you walk out of the studio with wounds'".

Here's the last nineteen minutes of Sue's final programme
including the inevitable 'best bits'. Audio courtesy of Charlie Cooke.

The programme itself occasionally hit the headlines, usually
following some clash with a politician in the prime 8.10 am interview slot
after the news. There were complaints of bias from Norman Tebbit, the infamous
Nigel Lawson interview with Brian Redhead, Jonathan Aitken saying of Humphrys
that he was "poisoning the well of democratic debate", accusations of
'smeary' questions from Brian Mawhinney, battles over who controlled the news
agenda with New Labour's spin machine, the sexed-up WMD dossier reports of May
2003 and the uncomfortable interview, Humphrys again, of Director-General
George Entwistle as part of the Savile fall-out in 2012.

Some of these run-ins with politicians are covered in this
2007 BBC Four documentary Today: The
Newspaper of the Airwaves. Narrated by Sheena McDonald it includes
contributions from Mike Chaney, Reg Turnill (who appeared on the very first
edition when he was one of the BBC's industrial correspondents), John Lloyd,
Tony Benn, Sue MacGregor, Libby Purves, James Naughtie, John Humphrys, Rod
Liddle, Jenny Abramsky, Norman Tebbit, Kenneth Clarke, Rev Richard Harries, Rabbi Lionel Blue, Anne
Atkins, Neil Kinnock, Jonathan Aitken, Michael Heseltine, Lance Price, Andrew
Gilligan, Kevin Marsh and Greg Dyke.

The available pool of regular presenters has gradually
increased to five with the last significant changes being the appointment of
Mishal Husain in 2013 and Nick Robinson in 2015 and with James Naughtie
stepping down in December 2015. This is the last hour of Jim's swansong,
there's an interview with John Major with the inevitable loss of the line - the
interview is picked up again later over the phone - and a tearful
sign-off.

In the last few months Today
has again come under scrutiny with the gender pay gap between John Humphrys and
his female co-presenters, and indeed between Justin Webb and Nick Robinson.
More recently the incoming editor, Sarah Sands, formerly of the Evening Standard and with no
broadcasting experience, was an appointment seen by many as tackling a
programme that had become stale and complacent. However recent editions on
London fashion week -leading to speculation that she had been instructed to
give greater prominence to "girls stuff" - live reports by Nick
Robinson from Silicon Valley and Puzzle for Today were seen as
"lightweight" with one Labour MP accusing her of
"destroying" the programme. Former editor Roger Mosey posed the
question "whether a flagship like Today
is the best place to experiment with magazine items, and particularly
whether it’s right for these times".

The political mire that is Brexit, a government with a
wafer-thin majority, a Tweet-happy President and a crazed despot keen on
blowing us all up means that the presenters of Today always have plenty of big political stories to chew over. But
perhaps the biggest change on the horizon is nearer to home, the potential loss
of programme lynchpin, John Humphrys. Rumours have been circulating that
John might leave after clocking up 30
years of early rises but he's passed that milestone. Last year he said he
wouldn't be there for the next general election, obviously not foreseeing
unexpected snap elections.

To conclude, in typical Today
fashion, I should be racing headlong up to the 9 am time signal without crashing .... pip ... too late!

This is a work in progress as quite frankly I ran out of
time before publication. I've attempted to list all the presenters of Today, both regular and holiday
cover. Until April 1959 the Radio Times didn't list the presenter.
During the 1960s most of the cover presenters for Jack de Manio were staff
announcers. The years refer to the dates they are listed as presenting even if this is for just a handful of editions. In some
cases that person may have worked as a reporter on the programme during other
years.

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About Me

Hailing originally from Hull and spending most of my life in East Yorkshire I'm now resident in France.
For over 30 years I've been interested in radio, tv and film and have an archive of off-air recordings and radio-related material.
I'm not the Andy Walmsley that designs sets or produces tv programmes.
Professionally I worked in Local Government.
My wife Val works for Beaux Villages Immobilier.